Dr. Steven Guttentag, President

Dr. Guttentag began his career as a classroom teacher and has spent the last 20 years designing and deploying technology solutions to improve K–12 education. In addition to his classroom experience, Dr. Guttentag has held several senior school district administrative positions, with responsibilities in the areas of technology, facilities, special education, policy analysis, labor relations, budgeting, restructuring, and grants management. A co-founder of Connections Academy, he also helped develop the company’s institutional business, Connections Learning by Pearson, the Nexus Academy blended learning schools, and the global private school, International Connections Academy, where he remains the Headmaster and Board President. More recently he has played a strategy role at Pearson, creating a plan to own and operate schools around the globe. Previously, he led KPMG Consulting's Midwest education practice, and was the Chief Education Officer for Education Networks of America, a provider of complete, managed Internet-access solutions to the education community. His academic credentials include a B.A. from the University of Michigan, an M.E. in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Policy and Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

Susan Fancher, Senior Vice President, Marketing

Ms. Fancher has more than 30 years of marketing and analytics experience in a range of fields. Prior to joining Connections Education, Ms. Fancher served as director of marketing at Barnes & Noble, where she launched and managed the company's loyalty program and led marketing programs integrating the in-store and online customer experience. Prior to Barnes & Noble, Ms. Fancher directed marketing activities for Harley-Davidson Financial Services, where she was instrumental in launching the Harley-Davidson Chrome credit card and developing a motorcycle leasing program. She also has held marketing and analytical positions in the financial services industry at JP Morgan Chase, American Express, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Ms. Fancher earned a B.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business. She has served as board president of a local animal welfare organization and currently is a member of the economics advisory board at the University of Wisconsin.

Mr. Guerrasio was one of the co-founders of Connections Education and brings 20 years of software and Internet technology experience to
Connections Education. He previously served as the CTO of Versient, an online marketing services company. He was also VP of Engineering and
CTO of Ntercept Communications, an online market research company that developed a standards-based language for the creation of interactive, online surveys. Mr. Guerrasio was responsible for the technical development of SpeakOut.com, a political portal site that served over 350,000 users during the 2000 elections. He has held other senior engineering positions with OutReach Technologies and VideoGrafects.

Prior to joining Connections Education in 2006, Dr. Hoge served as Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Catapult Learning, overseeing the development of their K–12 instructional and teacher training programs. Additionally, she was Executive Director of Education for eSylvan, where she directed the development of the curricula for synchronous online delivery. Dr. Hoge spent over 15 years in the public schools as a speech-language pathologist, curriculum developer, and supervisor of reading/language arts. As a certified speech-language pathologist, she provided services to PreK–12 students. Dr. Hoge has served as a clinical supervisor and adjunct faculty member at Loyola College and adjunct faculty member at Towson University, and serves on several K–12 and higher education school boards and advisory councils including the Towson University Board of Visitors. She has co-authored numerous resource materials for teachers and speech-language pathologists. Her academic credentials include a B.A. in Speech Pathology and Audiology, an M.S. in Speech Pathology, and a Ph.D. in K–12 Educational Leadership..

Monte Kalisch, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

Mr. Kalisch has been with Connections Education since 2002 and has over 20 years’ experience in technology positions spanning many industries. Prior to Connections Education, Mr. Kalisch was the Director of Technology for Versient, an online marketing services company. He has also served as the Director of Web Site Engineering for Ntercept Communications, a marketing research firm, and SpeakOut.com, a political portal organization. Mr. Kalisch was a technical lead for the development of the first web-based crop management system for VantagePoint Network, a John Deere subsidiary. Mr. Kalisch holds degrees in computer science and mathematics from the University of Northern Colorado, as well as a M.S. in Business Administration from Colorado State University. He has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses at both universities while working on his master’s thesis Supplementing Traditional Education with Internet Technology.

Yvonne Kisiel, Senior Vice President, School Legal Affairs

Ms. Kisiel has over 25 year experience as an attorney and business executive. She has served as General Counsel for Ameritrade Holding Corporation as well as WisdomBuilder, LLC, a privately held software company. Ms. Kisiel spent several years handling intellectual property and technology related matters at United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company and was Chief Counsel and Vice President of Business Development for Tenfold Insurance Systems Group. She served as legal counsel for Prime Computer, GmbH at its international headquarters in Munich, Germany after spending several years in private practice, including as a Partner with a Baltimore area law firm. Ms. Kisiel is a graduate of the George Washington University National Law Center. Prior to attending law school she was a Russian linguist with the U.S. Air Force.

Pat Laystrom, Senior Vice President, State Relations

Ms. Laystrom has been with Connections Education since October 2001 and has over 25 years of experience in education. She has taught in the classroom, managed a series of educational learning centers, and held senior management positions with leading educational companies including AHA!interactive, a cutting edge online curriculum provider; Scholastic New Media, where she helped launch Scholastic Network, an early teacher web portal; and Educational Resources, a national distributor of educational technology and professional development programs. Since 2011, she has been leading the State Relations team focused on identifying new opportunities, building key relationships, and working on legislative activities across the country. Ms. Laystrom earned a B.S. in Education from Indiana University.

Ted Ochs, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Ochs began his career as an industrial engineer with Corning and Black and Decker where he held both project management and production supervisory roles. He subsequently held financial management and executive positions in the health care and retail industries. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President of Jordan Kitt’s Music and was the CEO and CFO of The VNA of Maryland and the Regional Finance Director
for Manor Care, Inc./In Home Health, Inc. In addition to these corporate positions, he has served for almost 15 years as an officer on the board of the Hearing and Speech Agency in Baltimore, a provider of services to individuals with communication difficulties. Mr. Ochs’ academic credentials include a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.

Mickey Revenaugh, Executive Vice President, Connections Learning

Ms. Revenaugh has been a thought leader in education innovation for nearly 30 years. She is a co-founder and Executive Vice President of Connections Education and was instrumental in launching the company’s virtual school, blended learning, and institutional businesses. Ms. Revenaugh also serves on Executive Committee of the Board of iNACOL, The International Association for K–12 Online Learning. Previously, she was part of the team in 1997 that helped launch the E-rate to wire every American school to the Internet, and was education technology and education reform editor at Scholastic beginning in 1986. Ms. Revenaugh is a graduate of Yale University, has an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business, and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Bennington College.

Peter Robertson, Senior Vice President, Schools Operations

Mr. Robertson joined Connections Education in 2009 and is Senior Vice President of School Operations. Mr. Robertson was previously Vice President of Education Services at SchoolOne where he led the redevelopment of a web-based student information system. Prior to that, he was Executive Director of
Elementary and Secondary Education Product Management & Development for the Educational Testing Service, where he was responsible for the integration and on-going development of System 5, a standards-based, assessment-focused suite of School Improvement products and services. Prior to that, Peter served as Chief Information Officer for the Cleveland Municipal School District where he was responsible for student assessment, educational research, and program evaluation; and for the management of information technology resources and infrastructure system-wide. Peter spent four years as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company; worked as an educational researcher at the National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching; and served as a Social Studies and Communication Arts Program teacher at Montgomery Blair High School in Montgomery County, Maryland. He served on the Shaker Heights (Ohio) School Board from 2007 to 2011 and on the Montgomery County (Maryland) School Board from 1983 to 1984. He earned an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, an M.A. in Educational Administration from Teachers College, Columbia, and a B.A. from Harvard College.

Deane Turner, Senior Vice President, Operations

Mr. Turner has been with Connections Education since May 2002 and has over 20 years of experience in various facets of technology, business process, and operations management. Prior to joining Connections Education, he was Vice President for Operations at Ntercept Communications LLC, an online market research company, where he developed and managed the technology infrastructure, client support, and event production departments. As a Senior Network Engineer at PrimeNet LLC, Mr. Turner chaired an information technology advisory committee and oversaw major data communications projects performed for the firm’s largest client, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Mr. Turner earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He is certified in numerous computer, communications, and engineering technologies.